


The Seventh Sister Falls

by WyomingCH



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians- Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2017-11-26 00:45:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/644690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyomingCH/pseuds/WyomingCH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With campers falling mysteriously ill and no one - not even Chiron is able to find a cure - things don't look good. The gods have retreated to Olympus, even after the victory against Gaia. The Romans offer no help, and quite frankly, are scared of the sickness themselves with good reason. With things looking grim, Nico is sent off in search of a cure by an unlikely source of help, who claims he'll find the answer to all of his problems. It's there that he meets Maia, who doesn't know it, but she's got enough power to save everything he holds dear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Houston, We've Got a Bit of a Situation

 

**NICO'S POV**

The despair in the camp was almost tangible to him. Being the son of Hades, he was especially sensitive to the tendrils of anguish that seemed to afflict everyone as yet another person had been taken. For a dark moment, it looked as though the darkness he'd witness in Tartarus clung to the room, heavy and stagnant. Festering miserably, and infecting everyone with fits and hopelessness. Nico's hand clenched on the pommel of his sword, willing himself not to freak out. Freaking out - particularly for him -  didn't bode well for anyone. If he didn't know any better, he'd have thought he was mad. But whatever insanity had been inside him had been graciously removed by Dionysus following his return as the Camp's director, short-lived though it was. He raised his gaze to the circle of people around the ping-pong table as the last of them joined the room, swinging the door shut behind them. Nico was painfully aware of the gaps in their ranks as he looked at their somber faces, but he ignored the curling unrest in his stomach and looked to Chiron for guidance. The centaur gave the most imperceptible nods of his head and Nico cleared his throat, immediately sending the room into silence.

Nico was no stranger to being on a podium, or having to give solo speeches. There were many things he was,  _informed_ on, as opposed to other demigods. He had a particular realm of specifics as to where his intelligence lay, and often times he had to explain things in great detail. Speaking in front of either the Senate or the senior counselors at either camp had warmed him up for this very moment, but it didn't make him feel any less nervous. Public speaking was something he rather had down pat - he was much like his father in the way that he didn't really care if he offended you or not; what you needed to know was what you needed to know, and insult or injury wouldn't change those statistics. He would reveal what was necessary, and keep the optional details to himself if it wasn't quite time for them to come into play. Manipulation, while infuriating when he could see it clearly being used against him, was a handy trait to have picked up from his time in the Underworld while staying with Hades. However, he'd never been looked to as a leader. That was Percy's job, or even Jason's. Hazel, the new Centurion of the Fifth Cohort with Dakota knew how to give orders. Frank was still a ranking praetor, even after all this time, and knew what it was to have someone look to him for guidance. Even Piper was accustomed to having people listen to her charmspeak sweetened words. But Nico had only ever been an informer. He told you things you asked about, was willing to give a public report after having been sent to look at something. In many ways, he was a dutiful soldier to both the Roman Legion and Camp Half-Blood's forces. But he was patently uncomfortable being in charge, and he supposed, maybe, that was why his father was so disappointed in him.

He swept those thoughts under the rug, as now was not time for self-reflection. Were he silent too much longer, people would grow restless, and he already unnerved them enough as it was. Feeling like he was swallowing a golf ball whole, he sat up a touch straighter and had to will himself to stop drumming his fingers on the table. "So, with the latest victim, Chiron felt it necessary to draw a counsel to discuss the ramifications. With Percy now in the infirmary" - his breath caught a little on his name, an old wound that had started to ache since he'd found out about him falling ill. - "With him gone, we are left with little options, unfortunately. Our healers are making strides, and can prolong the campers time in the coma before they die, but they cannot stop it completely. Not even I can do that. Annabeth, though she is absent from our ranks here, has suggested we appeal to Olympus for assistance."

"We should," grumbled Travis under his breath. "Their children are  _dying_ and they can't even be arsed to come downstairs and see what's up? I thought they made a deal." There were murmurs of agreement and a similar sentiment from everyone else, and Nico resisted the nervous urge to draw on the ground under him. Typically, if he was outside, grass would wilt and die and if there were any bones under him, he could summon them to him and the skeleton would assemble, ready to follow his orders.

Like he said, he knew he unnerved the others. That was just the tip of the ice berg.

He drew in a calming breath, and Chiron jumped in to save him, thankfully. "Children, please. The immortals lead busy lives, and running a realm is no small business, as Nico here could tell you. It is one constantly underestimated by demigods and mortals alike, and they cannot come to every whim or desire. Worse disasters have struck our home without intervention, and we survived those. This shall be no different." The centaur's voice was kind, calm, and soothing. It was like all of the raised feathers they'd had were instantly smoothed over, and Nico hated himself for being jealous of Chiron. He knew it was a talent that came with age, but Nico wanted to get them all to behave like that for him. The most he could get was sass and maybe the odd reproachful look when he said something without tact.

"Not only that, but their promise to Percy was to pay more attention to us, which they have. They've stuck to their deal of claiming their half-bloods that make it to camp, and they are actively much more involved with us as it is." Nico piped up, wanting to defend the very immortals they were seemingly ready to attack. He knew none of them really deserved it, and privately he felt the same, but what Chiron said was true. They were busy - they couldn't come running whenever their children snapped their fingers at them. "Besides, after all that's been going on, there's still a lot of hurt feelings up there. I doubt they're too eager to offer us anything right now, as painful as that sounds."

And there they were, the baleful looks that made him internally cringe. Nico wished he could help them more, but he couldn't help it. His father had bound his immortal soul to his body - the sickness could not take him, nor could it kill him - and he knew Hazel was currently under similar protection in case it broke out over in the other camp as well. It didn't sit well with a lot of people that the only god willing to extend protection to his children was the Lord of the Underworld, and everyone sitting at the table could tell it you it wasn't out of the goodness of his heart. With that in mind, they were constantly reminded that for all intents and purposes, their parents didn't care what was going on with them.

Chiron could tell things were boiling over, so he dismissed the group. "Perhaps now is not the best time to meet. Go eat; lunch will have just been served. We will re-meet later tonight." Nico could feel a lot of sour attitudes in the room leave as they all trailed out one by one. He sighed and went to rise himself, but to his surprise, he felt Chiron pat his arm and he looked over, seeing the sad expression on his face. "It is hard my boy, I know. But you are doing your best, and they will come to appreciate it eventually."

Nico really wished that eventually would be a "right now," but since when had he ever gotten his way? He nodded, exhaling a pent up breath he didn't know he'd been holding, and rose himself. "Thanks Chiron. I think I'm gonna go take a bit of a breather and try to regroup my thoughts. I'll see you later tonight." Chiron didn't comment on the subtle message in that statement that said he wasn't going to eat. Nico just didn't want to be in the pavilion right now, with everyone who was looking to him as a leader, and he was sure he was disappointing them. After the morning he'd had, a nap was in high order. He left the Big House, spotting a crying Annabeth on her way to her own cabin as well it looked like. Part of him considered going up to her and trying to talk to take her mind off of things, but he'd never been very good at consoling people, and well, there wouldn't be very much to talk about aside from the obvious "so your boyfriend is dying, huh?" Yeah, not optimal small talk, so he decided to leave well enough alone.

He'd never been more happy that he'd redecorated when he made the decision to permanently move into his cabin here at Camp, because after the day he'd had, coming back to the cryptkeepers bedroom would have been too much. Now it looked homey and reminiscent of the hotel room he'd shared with Bianca back at the Lotus Casino and Hotel. With a twisting heart and a rolling stomach, he kicked off his shoes and collapsed on his bed, hoping and praying for a good night's sleep and no dreams. Of course, he had no such luck. If anything, what he got was worse than a nightmare. He woke in Persephone's Garden, only this appeared to be on Olympus, instead of the dark and dreary interior of the Underworld.

"Hello Nico." Persephone said, distaste coloring her expression as she patted the bench next to her. "Come, sit. It appears we have much to talk about if you're to save your little Camp."


	2. I'm Going Where Now?

**NICO'S POV**

There were few things worse than meeting the wicked step-bitch in a dream, he thought, as he looked distrustfully at the Goddess of Spring. She waited, but he harrumphed and made no indication that he was going to move for her. She sighed and mumbled a "suit yourself" before straightening her skirt and turning her gaze back onto him. She was in her summer form, as it was the middle of August, one that Nico was hardly familiar with, but she was still recognizable - she just didn't look like death-warmed-over. Her usually pale and cold face seemed fuller, and more lively. Her brown eyes were more vivid; her hair was impossibly dark and wavy, just like the way the Aphrodite cabin struggled to achieve every morning and failed. Overall, she just looked more....her. Nico could tell that even though he'd seen her countless times in his father's hall, this was her more natural state, and though he hated himself for admitting it, he could easily see how his father had fallen for her. Persephone had a natural and youthful beauty to her that was much more real to him than any of the other immortals, or maybe that was a bit of a biological bias speaking. That being said, she held little to no attraction for Nico, for a number of reasons - the biggest one being that immortals were more intimidating than anything else, and he found it hard to be attracted to someone who could literally kill you at any second on the base of a pure accident. Immortals were unattainable, and were best viewed that way, in his opinion. Historically speaking, pining for a god only led you down a path of misery.

"Are you listening to me boy?" Persephone's cutting voice snatched away all thoughts, and he focused on her, remembering that while she might've been pretty, she'd been nicknamed the Queen of the Damned for a reason. She was the Queen of the Underworld, and while many mortals thought she was just a cutesy flower princess, Nico knew there were a lot more layers to her - dangerous ones, at that.

He sighed and finally gave in, going to sit on the bench next to her. "Since when have I ever listened to you is the real question, Persephone. I believe the last time I actively participated in a conversation with you, it led to me being turned into a flower more than once."

"Then perhaps you shouldn't be so mouthy." She said, examining the flowers at her feet. "Though I am glad that memory is serving as a remind to you. Now, to business. The gods are aware of your little situation, you see, but we're still all on, ah, probation, let's say. In fact, I probably shouldn't be talking to you, but Father will just chalk it up to me being annoying again. He knows how I dislike your existence so much." The callous way she phrased that made Nico's blood boil, and he felt a momentary surge of desire to smack her, but then he'd be facing a lot more than just her wrath. His father would vaporize him for daring to lay a hand on his wife in such a manner, and that's not even including what Demeter would do. Hera might've been the Queen of the Heavens and the Goddess of Marriage, but in Nico's opinion, Demeter was a far better mother than Hera was. A protective one to boot.

"Is there a point to this then?" Nico spoke through gritted teeth, growing more impatient with her. He had no idea how his father had managed to put up with her for so long. Beauty only got her so far, and then she just became annoying. She cast him a look, and Nico strained to school his expression into something impassive. Persephone was much more touchy with him more than anyone else he'd ever met, and the first sign of disrespect would have him waking up as a sunflower. She sighed and then nodded. "There is."

"Okay, and that is...?"

"I know where you can find a cure to your sickness, but you are missing something vital. It is an herb that needs to be collected, but it cannot be collected by just anyone." Persephone stated to him, fidgeting in a way that really just wasn't like her normal self. "The herb can be found in the Roman side of things, over in their territory. I suggest you head over there as soon as you can, after you've gotten a prophecy for yourself. I fear this will be no easy quest for you."

"How long do we have?" While he hated nothing more than a deadline, he wanted to know if this would progress or escalate any. He needed something,  _anything_ to take back to the counsel tonight, or he and Chiron might face a mutiny.

"You can take as much time as you wish, provided you wish this entire camp - aside from yourself - to succumb to whatever ails the others." Her voice turned cold for a second, back to the usual Persephone he was used to, the one that questioned not only his intelligence, but also his impertinence. "There is another thing, a personal favor I would request. Should you agree, whatever bad blood is between us will be laid to rest."

Nico was hesitant to ask or agree without further information. As she made that statement, Persephone looked lost, troubled. Depressed, even. But the offer of not being harassed by her - and every nature spirit he happened across - was almost too good a chance to pass up. He knew she would not make the offer to him again, if it was as serious as her expression spoke. He was silent for a moment, before speaking up. "What's the request?"

"My daughter. I wish for you to rescue her." For the first time since he'd met her, Persephone's expression appeared downright distressed, genuinely upset. "As you well know, your father....dislikes my children. If she stays where she is, that close to his domain, she faces certain death."

A hollow chuckle sounded out from him, void of any amusement or humor. In fact, if anything, it was sympathetic. He could understand someone disliking his existence, but this was on a whole different level. Hades had sent the worst monsters in the Underworld after Thalia when she'd been young, and later did the same to Percy. He took the violations of their being alive rather personally, as Hades was the only one who hadn't broken his oath for either Hazel or Nico. However, if there was a set of demigods he hated worse than his brother's kids, it was his wife's. Persephone had done some pretty terrible things to his father's past lovers and even tormented Nico pretty bad when he'd lived in the Underworld. But compared to his father, whatever things Persephone could conjure up to annoy him with looked like child's play compared to the things he'd done to her children. Nico hadd only heard the whole blowout conversation once - and it'd been one of their knock-down-drag-out fights that left the entire castle shaking in their boots - while they'd been arguing in the dining room and he'd been in his room. He was pretty sure every soul in the Underworld now knew the in's and out's of how Hades killed Persephone's children, and they were never nice. According to the very goddess sitting next to him, he'd killed over 14 of her children in infancy in the last decade alone. Even Poseidon or Zeus hadn't been that angry with Nico's existence, and they'd been pretty steamed to find him still alive.

"Aside from the obvious, may I ask why she requires rescuing?" Rescuing wasn't exactly his thing, and anyone could tell you that. In fact, nobody could really tell you much of anything about Nico other than the fact that he didn't like to be touched, and he was never telling you the whole story. "Can't you just send a protector to her? They're usually pretty good at getting half-bloods to -"

"Because, boy, she will be safe with you!" Persephone rose to her feet and spun on him, rage coming to her suddenly. Nico flinched away, well aware of his step-mother's mood swings and had no desire to be caught in the crosshairs of whatever tantrum she was about to throw. "Hades will not attack his own son, Nico! While he might not say as much, he values your existence, and you are worth much  _much_ more to him alive than you are in the Underworld. Perhaps with you escorting her, he will think twice about attacking her too harshly. She  _needs_ to be saved, Nico. I can't lose another one."

It was the last statement that made his heart clench in sympathy, and he felt his hatred for himself go up another notch, but he nodded. "Fine, I'll get her as soon as I can. And, in regards to your tidbit of help, I don't suppose you could tell me who I would need to harvest this herb? I mean, if it has to be a specific person or the child of someone.... Not that I'm not thankful, but it kind of doesn't - "

"Your Oracle can give you the details in that prophecy of hers." Persephone waved her hand at him, her expression miserably. "You've slept for long enough, you have a meeting to attend to."


	3. A Chilling Sentiment

**NICO’S POV**

A pounding on his door jarred him awake suddenly, and Nico felt a little more than disoriented as he stumbled out of bed. He felt more exhausted than when he’d come to his cabin for the nap, and he groaned, trying to comb his messy hair out of his face and make his way to his door without hitting anything. He yanked the door open, leaning against the frame, and rubbed at his eyes. “What? What is it?”

It was Will Solace at his door, and once he realized that his heart did a small relay race in his chest, causing his heartrate to quicken for a moment. He then realized that it looked like the sun was setting, and it was almost night. The swelling colors of gold spilled over the horizon into other darker purples and blues, heralding the coming night. Nico hated himself for momentarily admiring how the light seemed to contrast in a lovely way off of the way Will stood, casually leaning against the other side of the frame from the outside. A bit of his hair was lit up with the color, as well as shadows across the side of him that wasn’t doused in the dying light, and damn, he looked good. “Nico, are you listening to me?”

He cleared his throat, which brought Nico around in short order, and he felt his face grow hot. “Sorry, I’m still like half asleep. What’d you say?”

Will looked bemused, but didn’t say anything. “I said, you’ve been out of it for a few hours. Council is reconvening so that we’ve got something to discuss at evening muster. Gotta have something to say, or the camp’s gonna break entirely. We need something for morale, yanno?”

Nico nodded, turning to look back inside of his cabin and then kind of half-heartedly rested his head on his door. He could feel a headache starting up. Tonight was going to be a blast to suffer through. “Yeah, I’ve got some news of my own. Just let me get shoes and…around, I guess. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“I’ll wait for you.” Nico had no more than stepped away from his door than the words were out of Will’s mouth and the son of Apollo stepped up, shouldering his way past the door and was over the threshold. Nico’s mouth opened and closed several times, but eventually he just shrugged and walked away, feeling his heart do that damn skippy thing again. He really didn’t want Will in his cabin, but he’d come to realize over the years that they’d been friends that he really couldn’t tell him no. Not only did Will have a backbone of steel and never really backed down from anything, no matter how chill and laid back he might’ve seemed, but also Nico’s willpower turned to the consistency of wet toilet paper whenever he wanted something from the son of Hades – soggy, ineffectual, and it started to disintegrate if stressed too much.

He had planned to change so that he didn’t look so bed rumpled, like he’d just rolled out of bed – which he seemed to be in a constant state of, no matter what he tried – and maybe brush his hair, but with Will watching him, he awkwardly decided to forego that stop. Instead, he simply decided to walk straight to the back of his cabin, where he’d included his own private bathroom for the cabin so he didn’t have to use the public bathrooms that were available to the whole camp. He snatched up a brush, running it through his hair, which didn’t help even a bit, and grabbed a pony tail from the small yet steadily growing collection of hair ties Hazel was littering his cabin with, and yanked his dark locks up away from his face before he splashed cold water on his face. He held himself there over the sink for a moment before drying his face and leaving, slipping on his shoes and nodding to Will. “Let’s go.”

* * *

 

Nico was silent, tapping his fingers quietly against the ping-pong table as Chiron led the meeting. Well, as best he could, because after Nico had opened his mouth about ten minutes ago and explained his ESP meeting with Persephone, everyone seemed to be reeling a bit. Chiron was trying to talk in circles, really, until they could decipher what on earth they were supposed to be doing. Nico admired how well the centaur could talk out of his ass, but he was growing tired of this. There was no point in the song and dance that was happening until Rachel could be found for a prophecy, and he held up his hand, interrupting Chiron. The centaur came to a startled stop, with a surprised “Nico?”

“Not that I don’t appreciate this whole” – he waved his hand in a vague circle around the room – “whatever this is, but there’s no point to continuing it further. The wicked step-bitch issued me a quest, so just….I’m going.” He rose, ignoring the completely scandalized looks he was receiving from the others for the name he’d called the Goddess of Spring, namely from Katie Gardener, who was Persephone’s half-sister in a way, and apparently sympathized more with her than her injured half-siblings here at the camp.

Chiron looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it and nodded. “Very well. You are correct. This is clearly a quest, but my boy, there is still much to be discussed before your departure. The terms of this are rather…unclear. You’ve brought us glad news but” –

“But nothing.” Nico sighed. He really hated having to be the grown-up one sometimes. “If it’s a quest, then I need a prophecy. I’m going to find Rachel, who is our Oracle and is who Persephone said will have most of the answers that – despite the fact that I can clearly see most of you don’t believe me about – I  did actually ask for. Now, I bid you adieu, and I’ll try to be back for answers before evening muster.”

There were a lot of hurt feelings in the room, of that Nico could tell, but at this point in his life he was rather immune to the looks he could feel aimed on his back. He stormed out the front door, but didn’t bother taking the steps. Night had fallen fully and a shadow washed over him. The familiar sensation of shadow-traveling surrounded him and when he appeared in front of Rachel’s cave, he staggered a bit. Using his shadow-traveling as carelessly as he had was a bit much, and now he felt woozy, but it’d been worth it. Politics, he was unfortunately well-versed in, but it didn’t mean he had to like them. Especially where his Greek counterparts were concerned. Being a part of the Senate was nothing like the arguments that happened when Greeks got together. He’d take a stabbing like Julius Caesar’s any day over a war council or a meeting of senior counselors.

He parted the curtain that fell over the opening of her cave, showing himself in. There was a dim light in the darker interior, and Nico cleared his throat loudly. “Hey Rach, its Nico, you in? Rachel?” He walked a bit further, finding the main cavern of her cave abandoned but lit. On her easel was a blank canvas with a note tacked to the top of it. Written in Rachel’s very sloppy penmanship was his name, along with a _“wait for me to get back”_ scrawled down. So she was out, but had been expecting him. He was unsurprised. She might not have been able to constantly see the future, but for a mortal, she had an eerie way of knowing when and where she would be needed. It unnerved even him sometimes. That being said, he still sat down in a nearby chair, tucking his legs up under him and resting his chin on his palm. He didn’t know when she’d be back, but clearly she’d expected him to show up while she was gone, and likely expected him to be here when she got back.

There honestly wasn’t much to do in the cave. Nico didn’t have a phone or an iPod to entertain himself with, since he was a demigod and it was kind of dangerous for him to have those. He didn’t think Rachel would appreciate him fiddling with her things, and even if she wouldn’t have cared, Nico was no artist. So, he sat there, waiting for what felt like forever. It was dark enough outside the cave and dimly lit enough in the cave that it provided the perfect air for him to start feeling sleepy, but he was determined not to fall asleep. Not that he wasn’t exhausted, but he really didn’t want any dreams – the last time he’d fallen asleep and went to Dreamland, he’d gotten so much crap dropped on his plate that it overflowed. He wasn’t prepared to deal with Round 2 so early in the evening.

It felt like hours had passed, but in reality it probably wasn’t that long. Before too much longer had passed, Rachel walked back in the front of her cave, finding him curled up. She looked completely unsurprised and simply jostled his shoulder lightly. Nico jerked and looked up, relaxing when he saw it was her. “Hey, bout time you got back. Where were you anyways? And how’d you take off without anyone in camp knowing?”

She waved her hand. “I’ve got my ways, and I had things to do. Glad to see you got my message; so whatcha need?”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “I’m surprised you don’t already know.”

“I know a lot of things, but why the son of Hades needs me this late at night on my night off is a new one. I’ve never had to issue you a prophecy before.” She turned to look at him as she tossed her stuff into the corner. “You do need a prophecy, right?”

“I didn’t know you had a night off, but yeah. Should I fill you in?”

“Nah, I don’t need details. You’re going to get Persephone’s daughter, right? You’ll just need a prophecy and a quest mate. Some advice? I advise you pick a healer, from what I can glimpse, you’re gonna need it.” Rachel’s face was full of sympathy as she glanced at Nico before the expression vanished and she gestured for him to follow her. “C’mon, I’ll issue it in front of the camp. If I’m not mistaken, sing-a-long is about to start up.”

They no more than arrived than the campfire fell deadly quiet. It occurred to Nico that he’d missed both dinner and lunch now; it was no wonder he was in such a pitiful mood. He could eat like a horse and when he didn’t, he tended to grump about like there was no tomorrow. The Apollo camper’s song came to a quiet and merciful ending when they watched Rachel approach with Nico in tow, and Chiron came forward. “Has there been a prophecy, then?”

“I felt it would be best to issue it in front of the camp.” Rachel said. Her voice was so offhand and nonchalant that Nico had to wonder what kept her from worrying like everyone else. After all, two of her friends were sick and one was driving herself mad with worry. With that, on top of the future occasionally mugging her and the entire camp asking her on a daily basis if Apollo had any wisdom to divine to them, why shouldn’t she have been worried?

So lost in his thoughts was he that Nico was taken slightly aback when the Spirit of Delphi overtook Rachel. It was nothing new – everyone in the camp had seen it before, no matter how unsettling it might’ve been to them – and Nico took care to focus on the words, as he’d only hear them once.

  _Against his will, the angel shall return to his home_  
_Forced away, he shall escape with the bloem_  
_Answers and questions lie with stem and gem_  
_Dark times are ahead, but do not be hasty to condemn_

Rachel was caught as she collapsed, as the drill was fairly down-pat by now. As she was carted off, Nico didn't know whether he might need to be carried off himself or if his headache had just gotten worse. He looked at Chiron, whose expression was fairly unreadable, as he'd grown accustomed to by now. He looked over at Nico, who shrugged and reluctantly stepped forward some more. The campers were whispering amongst themselves and Chiron banged his hoof against the stones, sending them into silence. In spite of Chiron obviously looking to Nico, his eyes anxiously searched the crowd of campers for one face in particular - Will, who sat with his siblings with a lyre on his lap. The son of Apollo had wide eyes, and his face looked as unsettled as Nico's stomach felt.

"Nico, who will you take as your companions?" Chiron asked.

No words were necessary, as Will stood up and nodded. "Of course I'll go with you Nico. Who's to be our third?"

Nico felt like he was swallowing his tongue, but he shrugged. "We're finding a demigod, so we need a satyr. I don't care who. They'll be able to smell nature magic a mile away, and this is the daughter of Persephone we're searching for. They should be able to find her easily. We leave in the morning." Without another word, Nico turned on his heel and fled towards his cabin, feeling like he was going to be ready to throw up. He had the unsettling feeling that tonight was not going to be anymore restful than his nap had earlier.


	4. The Last Daughter

**MAIA’S POV**

Maia sighed and leaned back, rolling her neck and getting a satisfying pop from her joints as the annoying bell from the speaker behind her chair went off. The obnoxiously loud noise marked the end of the school day, and she couldn’t help but think about her soft bed at home that she’d left behind that morning. The LA air was bathwater warm, even at 8:30 in the morning, and it was surely working up to be a sweltering day, which only made her grimace uncomfortably. If there was one thing worse than school, it was _summer_ school. She should’ve been out, swimming and shopping and hanging around town with her friends. But nooo, her parents finally had to crack down on her. She’d failed one too many classes, and they’d told her that at this rate, she would end up being a super-senior next year if she didn’t take summer classes. If she could pass the summer classes and gain the credits she’d lost during the actual school year, they would allow her to take the fall semester off and then get her into college. A deal she’d reluctantly taken.

No matter. The day was done, and she was free. She slung her bag over her shoulder, walking out of the school and had her eyes set on the bus that was coming down the street, and her ticket home. She absently waved goodbye to the voices she heard behind her from other kids who were as unfortunate as herself in being forced to take summer school. It sucked, yeah, but eh. None of them really had a choice in the matter. What did matter was the fact that it was now 3:00 in the afternoon on a weekday in the middle of August, and she'd missed out on all of the fun of the day. Maia was none too pleased with that, but she had homework to do, chores to finish, and a garden to tend to. Her forever long bus ride home was not going to make her attitude any better.

Maia loved her home. It was closer to the outskirts of Los Angeles, in one of the very few quiet areas there was. As close to a quiet suburb as you could get in such a sprawling city, she supposed, as she looked out the window at the passing scenery. By all means, it wasn't too bad, especially for a foster home. Her father had put her up for the system to take care of when she was around 6, after he succumbed to a life of alcoholism and had enough sense left in his body to realize he couldn't care for her. Maia didn't blame her father for being weak or upset, after he'd been left by the woman he loved repeatedly and a daughter dropped off on his doorsteps months later only to have them all leave him too. Her father had been blessed with seven perfect daughters, including herself. She was still a bit mystified as to how someone could have seven daughters by one woman a couple of years apart every so often and not have any of them remember her at least once in their lifetime, but she couldn't question it. It'd already been biologically proven that all of the sisters were full-blooded siblings, and the years between them spanned anywhere from 2 to 5 years. Unfortunately, it didn't mean Maia knew any of them.

They were all dead. By varying circumstances of ill fate, one by one, all six of her sisters had died. She'd been so young when it'd happened that she couldn't remember any of them, but she remembered the last hug her father had given her before she'd met a perfectly nice lady named Ms. Harebun who'd asked her all sorts of questions, and then it was after that she'd been shipped off to her first foster home. She was the last, and when her father had become to depressed to care for her, she'd finally understood that she was on her own. Her mommy wasn't going to come back and make the drinking stop or her daddy love her again - even if she had, Maia now realized that it probably wouldn't have made it any better. Daughter #8 would have just been the topping on the cake for him. Now, Maia lived with Mr. and Mrs. McLaren, who had been trying to adopt her for real for the last four years. They wanted her to feel like a real part of the family. Maia didn't think that it would be so bad - she could have ended up in much worse homes than with the McLaren's, who were a great family - but she didn't want to spoil whatever goodness they had left. It was a well-known fact to the girl that it seemed like whatever she touched seemed to go wrong. First her father's life, then all the foster families who'd turned her out. The first good thing that'd happened to her was this family, and she really didn't want to mess anything up for them. They deserved better than that, after taking her in like they did.

She got off the bus, stepping onto the sidewalk and started walking towards her house, the front door in sight. She couldn't wait to get into the air conditioning and get her homework done, but even more so she couldn't wait to step back out into the sweltering heat in the backyard to her garden. Her foster mother had likely tried to tend to it during the day while she'd been gone and god bless that woman's heart of gold, she had a black thumb - killed any plant she touched. Maia didn't want her to kill her entire garden in one fell swoop. She dropped her bag when she was no more than in the door, and was immediately greeted by chaos. The twins, four year olds who were the only biological children in the house, were running around covered in - oh god, what was that? Was that paint? She hoped it was paint - and the dogs were both barking. Malcolm was sitting on the couch watching television, screaming at the twins to settle down, and her parents were no where in sight. She groaned. Just another day in paradise, she supposed.

After cleaning up the twins - and no, it hadn't been paint, and it'd taken forever - and cleaning up their mess, she went to let the dogs out, and saw her parents relaxing on the patio with what looked like an ancient man. Okay, "ancient" was an overstatement, he was probably like, 70 or so. Maia had no idea who she was, and upon seeing her, her parents smiled widely and gestured for her to join them. She went out, Trixie trotting faithfully at her heels, and gave them each hugs. "Hey, what was going on in the house? It was nuts when I got home."

Her mother's smile faltered. "What do you mean? Wasn't Malcolm watching the twins?"

"If by watching, you mean letting them create some kind of colorful concoction that was semi-permanent and then paint each other with it, then yes, he was actually watching them." Maia confided in her. "I just cleaned them and the house up. Malcolm moved to his room."

Cara McLaren sighed, getting up. "I'll go in and speak with him then. Stewart, would you please introduce Maia to our guest?"

As she left, Stewart - her foster father - gestured for her to take Cara's place on the bench next to him. As Maia sat down, she looked at the older man, who really was starting to give her the creeps. She felt a chill go down her back, completely missing the man's name as they were introduced. "....and this is Maia. Maia, he's the lawyer who's here to finalize the papers." He gave her an excited look, and Maia suddenly realized why today must've been such a big deal to them, and why Cara had run off suddenly to deal with Malcolm and the twins. This was the lawyer who would be helping finalize the adoption. While the McLaren's had never failed a home check - literally ever, they were the sickeningly perfect family for a foster kid - it wouldn't do for them all to be presenting a bad image to the lawyer who could, at any moment, revoke that privilege of theirs. Maia was silent for the most part, nodding hello to the lawyer and listening to their small talk. It didn't last. After a moment, the lawyer turned to Stewart and smiled. Maia was sure he meant it in a pleasant way, but it came off entirely too creepy for her liking. "Mr. McLaren, if I may, I was wondering if I could have a word with Ms. Maia here alone for a moment. Nothing serious, I just wish to speak with her for but a few minutes. Nothing legal, I assure you, just some basics I'd like to explain. Not to worry. Cara spoke of lemonade? I am very parched."

Stewart was hesitant, but nodded. "Of course. I'll go get it. I'm sure Cara is done with the boys anyway. We'll be back in a moment." He cast Maia a look, but got up and also went in the house.

Maia's hackles were fully raised. She'd been in enough court situations and met enough lawyers to know that as a minor, she shouldn't  _ever_ be questioned without her legal guardian or parent there. While Stewart and Cara weren't her parents yet, they were well on their way to being, and a lawyer running the case should have known that. At the very least, her social worker should have been present. Instead, it was just her sitting alone in the backyard with the lawyer. His smile faded, and his face was just altogether very intimidating. Scary, to say the least. She squirmed in her seat, but she'd been taught to respect lawyers. She didn't like them, but if you weren't nice, they could make your life very very hard in the future. Considering she had happiness and a loving family in her crosshairs, she didn't want to endanger that. "You wanted to ask me a few questions?"

"Yes. I am to understand you like gardening, plants, all that. That plot is yours, correct?" He waved an arm towards her garden, which was flourishing in spite of the heat. It looked like Cara hadn't touched it after all. Feeling nauseous, she couldn't even manage words. Instead she nodded. What did her plants have to do with anything? "May I ask what you grow in it?"

She swallowed the heavy lump in her throat, feeling ready to lose her lunch. "Um...flowers, mostly. Colorful ones, to spice up the yard, since LA is....yanno, mostly a desert. Um, I tried growing fruit, but a lot of it doesn't like the desert climate. I have Snapdragons, Manzanitas, Glandulosus. Stuff like that."

There was a moment of silence as he looked at the garden, before he asked "Are those pomegranates I see?"

Maia looked over, surprised to see that he was indeed correct, but she didn't know how they'd gotten there. "Uhh...I didn't plant any of those, so no, it shouldn't be?"

"I see..." He murmured. "Interesting."

"Um, sir?" Maia asked quietly. "Why do you want to know about my" - 

"I wonder," he drawled in a lazy voice over her, "how she's managed to keep you hidden all these years. You've lived much longer than any of the others. And you're right under my Lord's nose, which will no doubt be adding insult to injury."

Maia was startled, to say the least. "Wh-what are you  _talking_ about?"

"Tis no matter of consequence, so don't worry your little head. I'm sure that the Underworld will figure that out soon enough, after you join your sisters and brothers. A messy matter I wasn't tasked with finding out." He sighed, standing up. "Well, now you die."


	5. Help From an Unlikely Source

**MAIA'S POV**

As the lawyer rose, he changed. The suit shed, or rather, became apart of him. His already old face became leathery and fangs grew from his teeth, and his eyes glowed a hideous color. His skin faded and took on a grey-ish hue, and Maia scrambled back, nearly falling off of the bench, before her knees gave out and she hit the ground. She looked up at him, and screamed. Surely Stewart or Cara would hear and come running, right? Or even Malcolm, the skinny brat that he could be. Anyone had to come because she was sure that  _someone_ had heard her shriek. Fingers elongated into claws, and a mouth that looked like it was ready to eat her. Maia thought for sure she was dead, until she heard a furious bark that drew her attention to the side. Trixie, her precious Rottweiler, bolted forth and caught the man - not that he resembled any such thing now - by the leg and bit furiously, attacking with all the loyalty of a man's best friend. God, Maia  _loved_ that dog.

Trixie could only hold him off momentarily, before her precious dog was tossed off to the side with a wounded yelp. Maia looked at her poor dog in horror as Trixie landed roughly, then moved no more. She didn’t know if Trixie was dead or just unconscious, but either way it meant that she wouldn’t receive any help from the canine. Apparently, this lawyer was a lot stronger than he looked. He turned on her again, but before he could strike, a flash of gold seared the air above him and there was an arrow sticking out of his arm. The ghoulish creature clutched at his arm and bellowed at something behind her. Maia twisted slightly to see a boy standing at her back door, a bow tucked up against his body and drawn with an arrow notched. He took aim, fired again, and this one caught the creature in the shoulder. “Get up, get out of there!”

He didn’t have to tell her twice. While she still felt rather wobbly, she found her land legs under her and pushed off of the ground, propelling herself forth and booking it back towards her house. That apparently was a bad idea. The strange boy let another arrow fly and then met her halfway, pushing her away from the door and towards the fence. “No, not there. There are more inside! Go!”

More inside? More _what_ were inside? What was even happening here?

She didn’t have time to ask, as he got her to the fence and grabbed her leg, hoisting her up to the top of the fence like she weighed nothing. As soon as she’d scrambled over, he toppled over after her, grabbing her and dragging her behind him. “Go! Barry is waiting out front; go!” He shoved her forward and she stumbled momentarily, but got her footing and took off for the front. She had no idea who this “Barry” was, no idea why there were strangers in her house armed with a bow and arrows, or why she was apparently supposed to die, but he’d already saved her life once; she had no reason to doubt that he – for whatever reason – wanted her alive. Maia made it around to the front of her house, seeing a car stopped in front of it, but there was no one there. Not in the car, nor around it. She looked around in a panic, but stopped when she saw people coming from the front of her house.

There was a boy who was staggering, but looked altogether unharmed as he was supported and hobbled his way out of her house. Instead of a bow, he was armed with a black sword, and a few wispy strands here and there had fallen out of the ponytail that restrained his hair – much like how Maia looked after she’d been gardening for a few hours and was sweating her ass off and her bangs were starting to fall in her face. Supporting him looked to be another boy – a different one, not the blonde armed with a bow, but a brunette. He had short, curly hair and unruly facial hair, but something seemed a touch off about his features. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but when he turned and she saw more of him, she realized that his ears were pointed and she saw itty-bitty horns on the top of his head. She felt like she was going to pass out.

Sagging against the car, she looked at her house – now mostly destroyed – and her mind immediately went to her family. “Where’s Mom and Dad? Malcolm, or the twins?”

“I don’t know who those people are, but they’re likely dead.” The boy with the sword grunted. “Only things I saw in there after we made it in the door were the rest of the Horsemen and a couple of other things. We need to get you out of here. I – wait…where’s Will?”

She had to assume that meant the other boy. She gulped in air, pointing to the back of the house. “He told me to find Barry.”

The boy cursed something that she didn’t understand, but pulled himself upright, his face tight with pain. “Barry, watch her. I’ve got to go get Will!”

“Nico, you’re about to collapse!” Barry objected, but the boy named Nico was apparently not having any of his fussing. He pulled himself out of the other’s grip, and dashed off in the direction she’d indicated. Barry cussed under his breath and turned to her. “Are you alright? Not hurt? No cuts, bruises, maiming, or possibly fatal injuries?”

Possibly fatal – never mind, she decided didn’t want to ask. Instead, she shook her head and gave herself a quick once over just to be sure. The creature in the back hadn’t actually managed to get ahold of her before Will had intervened, but he also hadn’t seemed too put off by his arrows either. She hoped that he was in better shape than Nico was, because that boy had looked like he was ready to fall over. Barry opened the back of the car and pushed her in it, just as Nico reappeared with Will. They both appeared to be equally supporting each other, but they weren’t running like their asses were on fire, which Maia had to assume was a good thing.

They made it to the car, Will in noticeably worse shape than Nico, Maia saw as they came close to her. Will was shoved into the passenger side of the car haphazardly, Barry climbed in back with her, and Nico slid into the driver’s seat. Maia’s stomach immediately lurched, as he barely looked old enough to be driving. She cast a wary look at Barry. “Please tell me he’s a good driver.”

“You were just attacked by a damn Horseman and your biggest concern is my driving skills. Charming.” Nico muttered under his breath. “I can drive just _fine,_ thank you very much. But I do advise buckling up – demigod rule 101, and all that.”

“Demi-what?” Maia demanded.

“An explanation for when we hit the road.” Nico waved her off. “We need to get out of Los Angeles, or we’re all going to die, along with you.”


	6. Didn't See That Coming

**NICO’S POV**

Maia was fast asleep in the backseat, half leaning on Barry, half not leaning on Barry. She must’ve been exhausted, after the day she’d had. Nico couldn’t blame her, really. In the time since leaving her house, she’d been informed of the fact that she was a demigod – of course not taken lightly at all, with much denial and panicking on her part – and told that most of her family was dead. Well, whatever family she’d had left. Nico knew that even if those monsters in the house hadn’t been impersonating the mortals she knew, they weren’t actually related to her. He was guessing an adopted family, since Persephone had mentioned that Maia was, as of right now, her only living daughter, and it was uncommon for demigods to actually have both parents in the picture.

“So when are you going to tell her about her mom?” Will’s tired voice floated across the car to him, the only other person awake in the car. He looked like utter hell, but he’d recovered nicely since Nico had banished the Horseman he’d been fighting. Famine, had been his name. He would’ve starved Maia to death in a matter of moments, and the mortal world would have thought nothing of it. Made sure that the McLaren’s were never given the option of adopting or fostering other children, for sure, but Maia would have been dead and their jobs done. Nico had fought Plague, and the feeling of death seeping through him – while nothing new, really – had done something to him. Nico couldn’t die right now, thanks to his dad, but he was sure that once Hades learned what Persephone had done and that his son had agreed to it, that deal was going to come to a screeching halt. Will had definitely fared worse, looking emaciated and gaunt, though life was quickly returning to his features the more they traveled. Nico made a mental note that, once they found a rest stop, to shove some ambrosia and nectar as far down his throat as it could go before Will started to fight him on it.

“Not answering me doesn’t make the question go away Nico.” Will’s voice was gentle, but the chastisement was obvious. “You didn’t tell her that Persephone sent you. Why?”

Nico honestly didn’t know. He thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I...I dunno, I guess. I think it was because she’s already been through a lot. Let her be a normal demigod for a second. Get her back to camp and let her be claimed like the rest of us. She doesn’t” – Nico stopped talking abruptly. She didn’t need to know that his dad, her step-father, had sent the worst monsters he could find in his realm to make sure that she died. So that he could torture her for the rest of eternity, just for the consequence of her birth. She didn’t need to know the in’s and out’s of godly politics just yet, or how they played into her dying.  Just finding out she was a demigod was going to be enough to make her head spin.

* * *

As it turned out, they didn’t need a rest stop – the car ended up fairly demolished. While driving down the road, the two driver’s side windows blew out as giant claws hooked through the side of the car, sending them spinning. Nico was suddenly glad he’d told them all to buckle up. The car rolled a few times before coming to a stop. On the bright side, everyone was awake. On the down side, everyone was dazed, probably injured, and belted into a now-on-fire death trap that would blow at any minute, especially if one of the monsters chasing them hit the gas tank or something equally as explosive. The car took another hit, rolling so that the car was on its side. Nico’s hip was smashed against his seatbelt clip, suspended in the air and the seatbelt was really the only thing keeping him from falling and crushing Will. He’d never considered himself a heavy person, but he knew that if he fell on Will from this kind of a height, it’d probably hurt a good deal.

Nico craned his head around to look at the backseat. Barry was dazed, but had already freed himself and had Maia, who looked really shaken up and tangled up in her own seatbelt. He took a deep breath. Okay, first things first, assess the situation, which really didn’t look like it was going to go in their favor, no matter how he sliced it. There were four of them in the car, all of them likely with concussions, and they had no idea how many monsters were outside of the car, or what had made the car flip. They could either stay in the car and die, or get out of the car and fight, and then die. He really didn’t like those odds.

Nico decided to take the one where he could at least try to make a difference and go out with a swing. Hopefully if he died putting his all into protecting Maia, Persephone might take mercy on his soul and not be as upset? Bracing his left foot and struggling to pull his right foot from the wreckage of the dashboard, Nico reached over and unclipped the seatbelt, trying to pull himself free. He awkwardly clambered down and landed next to Will, who was also attempting to free himself. Barry already had himself free and had Maia down on their side of the car behind Will.

“Uh, Nico? Quest leader? What do we do?” Barry’s voice was a little high pitched, and Maia was disturbingly quiet.

“Get out of the car. Try to run for it. Fight if we have to. Try not to die.” Nico said shortly.

“So basically, run like hell and hope nothing bad happens?” Maia’s quiet voice piped up, sounding a bit glazed over. She’d probably taken a pretty bad knock to the head. If they made it out of the car and to relative safety, Will would have to look her over. He made another mental note to shove some ambrosia down her throat as well.

“Oh good, someone who speaks ‘Nico.’ Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” Nico replied, twisting his body to lean back against Will. Bracing himself, he took his good foot and brought it up in a hard kick a few times. The windshield shook, and Will added a few good kicks of his own before the glass finally fell out. Nico didn’t want to get out of the car when he had no idea how surrounded the car was, but he didn’t see that they really had an option. He went first, then Will. Barry fed Maia around to the front of the car before leading up the back himself. They all crouched by the hood, and in front of them was blissfully empty of monsters. Not that they’d have been able to see them anyways – night had effectively fallen, and the outside world was dark. They could have been anywhere, but the field they’d landed in was eerily silent and it was just the four of them huddled around each other.

“Okay, so, Nico, what now? Where are we running to? We’re pretty much sitting ducks out here. There’s not really anything out here, and we can’t just sit here forever.” Will whispered to him. Nico was hyperaware of how close Will was to him, and it didn’t make thinking of something to do that would keep them alive any easier. Damn hormones, cropping up at the most inopportune times. He wished for the days when he had that whole unrequited love thing for Percy – at least then, he’d been able to shut himself down and focus on other things, like how to keep three other people from becoming monster chow. Now the only thing he could actively focus on was the fact that Will smelled like freshly oiled leather and sunshine, an odd combination that made him want to buy his face in his chest and inhale.

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking!” He snapped. Just then, the offending creature landed, slamming down on the ground in front of them with a gust of wind, sending dirt flying everywhere. Nico gulped down the bile that threatened to come up and looked at the brightened eyes that just seemed to glow with a terrible ferocity in the darkness of night. Even if it were daylight out, the Sphinx would have been a terrible sight to behold, but the night covering everything else only served to make it look more threatening. “Okay, new plan."

"Okay, and that is?" Will pressed when Nico remained silent. 

"I'm working on it." Nico replied in a small voice. "Barry, do you still have your reed pipes by any chance? If you could distract that thing, that'd be...that'd be great."

"Isn't that thing supposed to be intelligent?" Will asked, and the Sphinx snarled at him.

"Idiot boy! Of course I'm intelligent; how do you think I managed to come up with so many riddles to trick people with?" She roared, and everyone jumped back. "I was successful too, until that Jackson boy and that Chase girl showed up!"

Nico dimly remembered Percy and Annabeth mentioning something like that after the Battle of the Labyrinth, where they'd saved him more times than he'd cared to actually acknowledge. Annabeth had been huffy once about how she hadn't been properly challenged, and Percy was trying to tell her something about how she'd been brilliant or whatever - blowing smoke up her ass, like he was good at. If he had to guess, Nico was going to say that they'd ran into the Sphinx and Annabeth had gotten them out of a tight jam using her "Daughter of Wisdom" thing, but from what Annabeth had said afterwards, it hadn't been much of a challenge. Well, if Annabeth could beat it, that...didn't speak well in their chances, since Nico wasn't scared to admit that the blonde was indeed smarter than he was, in almost every way. She had brains, strategy. Her mother was a battle tactics goddess, and the goddess of wisdom to boot. Hades was smart, make no mistake about that, but even his father had the ghosts of demigods and war heroes on his staff as advisers for tactics. Hades was a madman, not a strategist.

"Well, if you're so smart, then don't you know the rules to your own game?" Maia piped up, her voice wracked with fear. The poor girl was shaking in her boots, but Nico couldn't help but admire how she managed to force out the words to challenge the Sphinx. "You might be here to kill us, but you have to let us answer your riddle first, right? If we get it right, we get to go free. If we get it wrong, you eat us."

Nico felt the weight get lifted off of his shoulders a little bit. If he could get the Sphinx to take that deal, and make it swear on the Styx, he might actually have a fighting chance at getting out of here. Of course, that plan was kaput as soon as he formed it. The Sphinx laughed, which was not a comforting sound at all. It reminded Nico of shattering glass with how unpleasant it was.

"Foolish girl! I've learned from my mistakes! The last time I let a hero challenge me, those two demigods ruined me, and collapsed my chamber on me!" She stamped her paw, as if the thought still made her indignant, which it probably did. Monsters were known for holding grudges, not unlike Nico and his father. Beings of the Underworld often had a hard time letting things go, and when those certain things involved your last painful death - well, Nico couldn't exactly blame a lot of monsters for thinking ill of demigods and the like, even if he was one of those things. "No, I don't ask riddles or questions anymore. Now, I feast whenever I wish!"

Well, it'd been a good try, but it looked like they were about to die. Nico went to draw his sword, but once again, Maia's words made him pause. Her face was twisted in displeasure and confusion, her head tilted to the side and her brow furrowed. Aside from the gash on her forehead that leaked a bit of blood and her torn up clothes, she looked almost identical to Persephone when she was confused or asking a question. "That's not right. According to the stories, you're bound to ask us a riddle. You  _have_ to, or else you're not allowed to eat us. That's how you tell the worthy from the unworthy, and why those who couldn't answer your questions weren't allowed to pass."

Maia's voice was leaving very little room for argument. It was almost as if she were trying to force the Sphinx to ask them a question, which Nico didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it was stalling their imminent death, and Nico should probably be strategizing while she talked, but he couldn't help but being surprised at the amount of force in her voice. Maia was...a force to be reckoned with, it looked like. The Sphinx snarled another challenge and inched her way forward, but Nico watched with amazement and Maia drew herself up and stared the monster down, her voice shaking badly with each word she spoke. " I said,  _ask me a riddle!_ "

The direct order made the sphinx pause and she tilted her head to the side, as if evaluating her options. Finally, the Sphinx took a step back and the terrifying claws it had were momentarily sheathed. She looked deeply annoyed with the development of this attack, but had no choice but to agree. According to the legends, Maia was right. The Sphinx was bound to ask them a riddle before eating them, which was in all actuality probably why she hadn't killed them yet. The Sphinx was intelligent, and had probably found a loophole. Likely, she was waiting on other monsters to show up and kill them for her. Once they were dead - not by her head - she wouldn't have to ask them anything. However, the attack was imminently paused while Maia dealt with the Sphinx, leaving Nico free to strategize. Howe to get out of here, how to get out of here. There were more than enough shadows...perhaps he'd be able to shadow-travel?

The Sphinx finally chose her riddle, falling to her haunches and staring at Maia with an aggravating intensity. "Very well. I'll eat well when you fail to answer me anyways, so what does it matter, really. So, here goes!

_ When my first is a task to a young girl of spirit, _  
_ And my second confines her to finish the piece, _  
_ How hard is her fate! But how great is her merit _  
_ If by taking my whole she effects her release!" _

The Sphinx's face was menacing, and Nico leaned forward tapping Maia on the shoulder. He gave her a quizzical expression and mouthed  _"you good?"_ to her, as if to ask if she were good with the direction this night had taken. She looked downright terrified, but still nodded and faced the Sphinx anyways. She'd been quiet an awful long time and a snarl worked it's way up out of the creature. "Hurry up girl! I'm not known for my patience."

Also true. If Maia didn't have an answer soon - because Nico certainly didn't, and neither Will nor Barry looked to either - the Sphinx would just assume they didn't know, and thus she'd be free to eat them. A shitty loophole for a shitty way to die, really. The girl was staring at the ground, her face contorted into confusion and Nico could practically see the gears turning and the thought process chugging away and eating away at the riddle. In Nico's opinion, it hadn't been much of a riddle, but then again, Annabeth had said that it'd been really bad at giving riddles that weren't her usual one that she'd asked way back when.

Suddenly, Maia looked up, her expression lighting up with what could only be described as the ultimate realization. She turned her gaze on the Sphinx, looking a little proud of herself, and asked "Is it hemlock?"


	7. I Had Nowhere Else To Go

**MAIA'S POV**

For a heart-stopping moment, she worried she'd spoken too soon. It had no more than come into her mind than she'd blurted it out, having remembered some long-forgotten rhyme that the riddle posed to her had brought back. She'd been so excited, and now the adrenaline was racing through her at an alarming pace. Well, if she died, at least she'd die with a good amount of endorphin's in her system? That had to be something, right? The Sphinx's face changed and turned to something so terrible and menacing, Maia didn't know what to do and she took a step back, stumbling into someone. Their hands steadied her and she looked to see Will, his haggard and tired face urging her to stand her ground. She looked back to see the Sphinx's claws had re-emerged, but she'd ripped up the ground under her in the midst of a tantrum.

"No no no no!" She shrieked. "You weren't supposed to guess that! How did you know?!" The stomping shook the ground, and the dirt under her had been effectively torn to bits, but she was not leaping in their general direction. She fixed a baleful glare on the girl and growled. The sound was loud and rumbled like the engine of a car, though it was decidedly more loud and deafened the three of them. "Mark my words girl - you may have won this round, but I will not forget you the next time we meet. If you think I am alone in this chase, then you are mistaken!"

And with that, the Sphinx was gone.

The breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in escaped her and Maia's chest was heaving. Somewhere in the back of her head, she realized she was hyperventilating but was powerless to stop the panic from overtaking her and she felt her legs fold under her. She hit the ground hard with her legs twisted under her at an awkward angle. Pain flared up her left leg and settled somewhere in her hip, making her wince and shift her weight. the other three quickly gathered around her, checking to see that she hadn't suddenly collapsed or was in the midst of a heart attack. Actually, scratch that last one off the list; she wasn't too sure if someone at the ripe age of 17 could go into cardiac arrest while perfectly healthy, but it certainly couldn't be impossible and the pains in her chest begged to differ from what a professional might have to say.

She felt them readjusting her, and became hyper-aware of the fact that Will was rubbing a circle into her upper back, right between her shoulder blades. His voice was soothing and level, a calm white noise in the absolute mess she had become. He made her put her head between her knees and counted out breaths until they came at a more normal pace and she was less dizzy. She wanted to just curl up and cry, but that wasn't an option anymore. No more than she'd looked up and regained her breath, feeling like perhaps she could stand and maybe she wouldn't fall down again, Nico spoke. His tone was urgent, and his body-language spoke of an immediate danger. His eyes searched the fields around them, though she didn't know what he'd be able to see in the dark of night that the rest of them couldn't. His hand was tight on the pommel of his sword, his knuckles white and his muscles flexing as if he were anticipating the need to swing it at any given second.

"We need to go." Way to state the obvious, Captain. Shall you pour water in the boat while you're at it? "The closest safehouse to this is Piper's dad's house, but Piper is...at camp." The way his voice faltered made her glance over curiously as she wobbled back to her feet. Something was off, something they weren't telling her. She knew that it was urgent they left this spot because of the danger these monsters posed to her - and them, by proxy - but something gave her the sinking sensation that she wasn't the only reason they'd ventured out here. Feeling ridiculously like a newborn giraffe standing up for the first time, she accepted the hand Barry offered her and was pulled back to her feet. After making absolute sure that her legs were under her and she wasn't about to fall into another attack, she gave Barry a small smile of thanks and faced Nico.

"What's going on?" She asked. "I feel like...something's not right. Something's wrong, isn't it? That's why you had to come get me, right?"

Nico and Will traded glances before their eyes slid back to Barry behind her, and it was like a game of Monkey-In-The-Middle with a secret, and she was the one chasing back and forth to find out what it was. She looked around at them, waiting for an answer. Will mouthed something to him, but Nico gave the most imperceptible shakes of his head that Maia could barely see and sighed. "We can talk more when we're in a safe place. Out here, for lack of a better term, we're sitting ducks. It's nightfall, and we don't have a car anymore. We need to find a place to hunker down into."

She wasn't satisfied, but they weren't apparently in the mood to discuss it. Maia knew her mother had sent Nico to come get her, but what she couldn't fathom was  _why._ Why was she so important? What did she have that was this vital that they were all risking their lives for hers? Was her mother some big, bad goddess and Maia had some destiny awaiting her that couldn't be put off? The thought frightened Maia. She wasn't like the other kids she'd grown up with, who'd dreamed of superheroes and being important enough to change the world. She'd never wanted a story about her being the heroine, where she rode off to save the day and came back to her dearly beloved with a tender kiss and then everything was happily ever after. She just wanted a small garden of Snapdragons to plant and water, a few cacti to grow here and there, and a cute little house outside of Los Angeles and maybe a cat or two. She didn't plan on going to college - if she did for anything ever, maybe botany - nor did she plan on immediately jumping into that workforce to try and make money or a name for herself.

She just wanted her garden, two doting parents, the twins to come visit on the weekends, and to watch Malcolm at his middle school graduation.

* * *

 

They shadow-traveled, whatever that meant. It was fucking terrifying was what it was, and Maia hoped she never had to do that ever again. Apparently the dark was a talent of Nico's, though she'd never fathomed that walking through shadows to teleport oneself could be considered a talent. He looked exponentially more exhausted as they staggered out of the shadows and Will caught him as he tipped forward, nearly collapsing. Though it was still night here as well, they stood on what looked like a porch of marble in front of a darkened villa, with only a single lamp for light. The building had an ancient architecture to it, like they'd ended up somewhere in the heart of Italy and were exploring the ruins of the lost Roman civilization. However, these looked new - like brand new - and there was a doorbell that could be rang. Was this that Piper's house that Nico had mentioned? A safehouse of sorts?

Instead of ringing the doorbell, Nico immediately went for the doorknob and opened it, walking in like he owned the place or was at least a little familiar with it. The others followed suit and Maia trailed in through the back, coming into what looked like...well, she didn't know what it looked like. The ceiling was tall and vaulted. Through certain doors and rooms she could see that it was apparently a house - there was a kitchen, a sitting room with a television, and a game room with things like a Foosball table and a dart board. However, the chamber they now walked through was just that - a chamber. Fire braziers burned the whole way down, giving an eerie golden light to the room and filling it with sweet smelling smoke. They were burning incense, she realized, and food. In each of the braziers she walked past, there were various different kinds of food still crisp-i-fying in them, though it didn't smell like burnt food at all. At the end of the chamber were two desks with two very fancy chairs. Behind each chair was a door, and the one on the right was cracked open, revealing a staircase to another level of the building. Her gaze was swept forward to the carpet in front of them when she heard a menacing growl and her blood ran cold. The whole group of them came to a stop, though Nico just raised his hand wearily. "Down, Aurum. Is Reyna here?"

Maia peered around Nico and was startled to see that he was speaking to a dog.  _Two_ dogs in fact; one made of silver and one made of gold. They both had rubies for eyes and looked ready to tear them apart. The dog said nothing in return, though the gold one departed and slunk back up the stairs of the open door. They stood there for a moment, under the watch of the silver dog. Maia studied it for only a second before hoping that it was friendly - even without it's gold counterpart present, that silver hound could easily kill all four of them before they made the door.

Footsteps drew her attention, and she saw a tired girl coming down the stairs. Her hair an absolute mess, her eyes still full of sleep, and her clothes wrinkled. She wore a pair of flannel pajama pants and a purple shirt that had a gold picture on it. Upon further inspection, Maia saw the letters "SPQR" emblonized across her stomach under the golden laurel. She rubbed her eyes but when she saw the group of them she paused and her eyes widened a little bit. She rushed forward to Nico, immediately beginning to check him for injuries. "By the gods, Nico! What happened to you guys?"

Maia was confused for a second until she looked at them as a whole and realized that they looked like they'd been in a wreck, which was actually fairly accurate. Will still looked like hell from when he'd gotten into the car in the first place, and Barry had dried blood down the right side of his face from cracking it on the window when they rolled. Nico just looked like a dead man walking anyways, and Maia wasn't sure what she looked like, but it couldn't have been too stellar. No wonder she was concerned about them. She watched as the girl checked him over with care and wondered who she was to him. She handled him with a care and tenderness of someone who knew him well, but she was a few years older than Nico, and didn't strike her as Nico's type. A sister, perhaps? "Are you two, like, related or something?"

Nico barked out a laugh, which quickly turned into a groan and he winced. "Friends more like, but siblings if you prefer" - he gave Reyna an adoring look, full of love - "because she's my sister in all but blood. Besides, if we're getting technical, we're all children of the gods."

Will made a gagging noise. "Nico, please don't go there." 

There was a murmur of laughter from everyone else, which she didn't quite understand, but there wouldn't be time to ask. Reyna turned over her shoulder and yelled for someone named Frank, who came stumbling down the other set of stairs hidden behind the lefthand door a couple of minutes later with his own case of bedhead and sleepy-eyes. Whereas Reyna looked darkly intimidating and someone to be reckoned with, Frank had a softer edge to him. He was built and certainly had muscle - to be honest, he looked like a brick shithouse - but he had gentle eyes and his tired face expressed more of an adorable side than an intimidating one. The contrast between the two was stark: Reyna looked like she'd kill someone for waking her up, and Frank looked like he was sorry for falling asleep on you.

They were all taken to the kitchen, which had more seating and Reyna could get them some ambrosia and nectar, she said. Maia took a seat up at the island counter on a barstool, letting herself drape across the granite surface until she heard the clink of glass and looked up in surprise. Next to her was a small lemon cake looking thing, and a glass of the purest gold drink she could imagine. Maia was skeptical until Barry nodded encouragingly to her and she cautiously took a sip of the drink. Instant warmth flooded her, and she made a noise of surprise at the taste. It spoke of the taste of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and sugar and cream. A favorite desert of the MacLaren's when she'd first arrived, and it had become her favorite snack when she could get ahold of it. Frank smiled and she thought she saw a light laugh escape at her reaction, but she wasn't paying enough attention to be insulted that he'd laughed at her. Even more impressive, in her opinion, was the fact that her leg was no longer sore. It had been throbbing since she'd fallen, which in her opinion was further proof that she'd injured it. But with one drink from the glass, the throbbing had lessened and with the more she drank, the better she felt. After their plates were cleaned and their glasses emptied, Frank set them in the sink while Reyna slid across from Nico, crossing her arms and leaning back. "Alrighty, now that you're not all about to collapse, would you mind filling us in on why you're on our doorstep at" - she checked the clock - "nearly one in the morning?"

Nico started off with his explanation readily, which soured Maia a bit, since that was more than she'd ever gotten. She'd gotten the whole "you're a demigod and these monsters are trying to kill you schpeel" earlier, as well as a crash course on the basics she would need to know - such as "you can't kill monsters but you can kill mortals so get in the damn car we gotta go." Reyna was given the full story, and Maia listened with a degree of interest, wondering where she played into all of this. There were noticeable parts where Nico stumbled over his words and someone else had to fill in or would outright look in her direction and change his phrasing immediately, which further increased her suspicion that he wasn't telling even Reyna everything. The gist of it was, a quest to save his home. From what she gathered, while quests were not unheard of, they were uncommon, and this one was of dire importance. He said people were dying, and when he rattled off a list of names, Reyna's face seemed to fall several degrees from the cold expression she'd kept in place. She patted Nico's shoulder, giving a quiet word of comfort and the room was quiet for a moment. Then, the eyes were on her as Reyna asked about her. "And this one? You said she's a demigod? Do you know who of?"

Maia didn't like her tone, nor the way her gaze unsettled her. Before anyone could say anything, Nico jumped in with an explanation ready. "Yeah, uh, her mom asked me to come get her and save her. Apparently my dad has it out for her, and her mom called in a favor." The silence that followed made it clear Reyna expected more information, but Nico wasn't exactly forthcoming. Maia's stomach was knotted up as she realized that Nico knew who her mom was, but was intentionally keeping the information from her. Part of her demanded that she throttle him until she got a name, but she didn't have the chance to either say anything, or get over to him to commence the throttling. Will spoke up, his voice quiet and spoke of tiredness. 

"We can discuss it more in the morning, when we're not all tired and we've had time to recuperate. We're of no use to anyone if we're going to be this exhausted."

"Yeah!" Frank jumped in immediately. "You guys can bunk with us for the night, and we'll reconvene in the morning. You are staying the night, right Nico? Hazel is gonna be floored to see you after what we've heard of the camp's status over there. She's been freaking out since you left." - he gave Reyna a guilty look - "That is okay, isn't it?"

Reyna's expression was somewhere between amused, indulgent, and miffed. She nodded slowly and stood up herself, making for the door. "Come. Maia can stay with me and you gentlemen can bunk up with Frank for tonight."

As if that ended the discussion, they all rose and began to part ways. Maia reluctantly followed Reyna and her two metal dogs, watching as the other three followed Frank. Maia expected the upper level to be similar to that of a house, with a hallway and then a room that would be Reyna's, but she was surprised to see that the entire half of this floor looked like a small Roman apartment, complete with another office, another living room, and her own bedroom pushed into the furthest room. The couch looked rumpled and blankets pushed aside haphazardly,  indicating that Reyna had likely not been in her bed when her golden dog had come to get her. It looked incredible and elaborate, leaving Maia to wonder who Reyna and Frank were if their house was set up like this. She was startled out of her reverie when she heard Reyna's voice addressing her this time. 

"You'll have to forgive the fact that you're being forced to stay with me. Under normal circumstances, I typically do not let guests up here, but we do not have any guest quarters. I couldn't ever turn Nico away on a quest when he needs a safe place either." She handed Maia a small stack of clothes, which she realized were extra pajamas. "Here. Sleeping in jeans is quite uncomfortable, in my experience. You can borrow these, and we'll have fresh clothes found for you in the morning."

"I - oh. Thank you." Maia didn't know what to say, but she accepted the clothes nonetheless. Sleeping in jeans  _was_ rather uncomfortable, and with all she'd been through today, she didn't fancy waking up in the same clothes she'd fallen asleep in. She started for the couch, but Reyna quickly redirected her attention to the bedroom, leading her through the apartment.

"You can use my bed. I hardly ever sleep in it. I prefer to be close to the front of the apartment, so I can be ready for duty when needed." Reyna explained. So she was a workaholic too? Explained the stacks of what looked like paperwork lying around her desk and her makeshift bed on the couch. Maia wondered for the thousandth time what it was Reyna did if she had such hard work and such fancy quarters. She couldn't have been more than what, 17? 18? They looked to be around the same age, though Reyna's actions and the way she held herself spoke of maturity beyond her years that left the other girl at a loss of words. She didn't even notice that she'd been left on her own until she heard Reyna call a good night to her, and her dogs followed her away faithfully, leaving her alone in the strange room. Left with nothing better to do, she changed clothes and crawled into the bed, pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite soft and the blankets were downy soft. She collapsed almost immediately into the bed, and her mind spun anew when the dreams began.


End file.
